We Are Ringgold
We Are Ringgold is the widely popular viral video created by Shane Simerley Tornado [[News Crew#Shane Simerley - Director .26 Executive Producer| A violent tornado struck portions of far northwest Georgia and southeast Tennessee during the mid-evening hours of April 27; the twister set down along Davis Ridge Road in Catoosa County, Georgia, before reaching the town of Ringgold. Between 75 and 100 homes were damaged or destroyed; with the most severe damage occurring on Cherokee Valley Road in Catoosa County, where twelve homes were swept away. A Baymont Inn & Suites, located near Interstate 75 was also partially collapsed by the tornado, along with a McDonald's, a Taco Bell and several gas stations located on Highway 151 in Ringgold at the Interstate 75 interchange (exit 348), and the Catoosa County Department of Family and Children Services and other businesses on Nashville Street in downtown Ringgold. The Kellerhals Center for Visual Arts Education at Ringgold High School was destroyed (RHS itself was damaged), and Ringgold Middle School was heavily damaged. Creation The morning after the tornado (April 28,2011) there was still much confusion as to the well being of others and for property in and around Ringgold. It wasent to long before the conformation of the deaths of Adam Carroll (along with his grandmother, aunt, & cousin) and Chelsea Black (along with her mother, father, and brother). Shane Simerley (who at the time was known for making videos for school projects and some video game videos) took pictures that was available from Carl Beasley and a few others, compiled them and added in the song Angel by Sarah McClauglan. Posting At first Simerley wasnt sure how the video would be recived by the public, so instead of his typical routine of directly posting to both YouTube& Facebookhe instead only uploaded to Facebook. At the time this was very unusual for Simerley to do this, he also in the information pane said "I dont know if this is even appropriate but if this offends anyone please let me know and i will take this down immediately ". Popularity The video was taken up by storm, with in less than 1 hour the video had over 100 "likes" on facebook. Simerley seeing that the video was a hit soon posted the video on youtube, The Video was taken and played by the local ABC's NewsChannel 9. ''the video also was downloaded and reposted by many, T-shirts, signs and many other things saying "''WE ARE RINGGOLD" After the Post After the post Sharon Vaughn (Principal of RHS) & Simerley were talking about the video and decided for a new announcement talk show that later became RHS MORNING NEWS. Many people sent thank you messages and Simerley got over 85 friend requests on facebook. The Video was then shown at multiple events including the 1 year anniversery and shown to Sandra Deal (1st lady of GA). in total with all events and facebook and youtube it is estimated that video has over 200,000 views. Legacy Simerley decided to create another We are Ringgold dedicated speificaly to the Black & Carroll/Prescot families. The video contains ''Angel ''resang by ''Kelly Clarkson. ''Over all Simerley Considers it his best work and out of 107 videos it is the most viewed and praised (other than the Morning News show).